Tory adviser plans pyramid mausoleum

David Hart, the millionaire Conservative backer and former adviser to Michael Portillo, was granted permission yesterday to build a 23ft gold-tipped Egyptian-style pyramid in the grounds of his home near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

David Hart, the millionaire Conservative backer and former adviser to Michael Portillo, was granted permission yesterday to build a 23ft gold-tipped Egyptian-style pyramid in the grounds of his home near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.

The old Etonian, who claims to have helped Margaret That-cher crush the miners and advised the Tory government on the purchase of jet fighters and missiles, will erect the stone and glass mausoleum at Chadacre, his 19th-century Georgian mansion set in 500 acres.

It will have space for 34 tombs and the top will be made of glass and gold, with seats below to allow Mr Hart to contemplate his mortality. "There is a long tradition on English country estates of erecting mausoleums," he said.

Derek Latham, the architect who designed the mausoleum, said Mr Hart was a true "modern renaissance man" who enjoyed discussing immortality.

Local parish councillors objected to the edifice as "ostent-atious and out of keeping with the rural surroundings", but Babergh District Council narrowly voted to grant permission. "It was one of the more unusual requests we have received," said a district spokesman.